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player ready...The Lake Zurich football team finished 4-5 last fall for its first losing season since 2001.
It also marked the end of the Bears’ streak of 13 consecutive playoff appearances.
Coach David Proffitt is entering his fifth year in charge at Lake Zurich, and he hopes to right the ship after the team’s season ended in heartbreaking fashion on its final offensive play. Facing Lake Forest in a Week 9 game and needing a win to secure a playoff berth, the Bears scored late and went for a two-point conversion that would have bypassed overtime. But the play failed, ending any hopes of making it a 14th consecutive postseason appearance.
Pioneer Press contributor Tim Froehlig caught up with Proffitt toward the end of the team’s summer camp to discuss the Bears’ progression heading into the 2016 season. Proffitt declined to make any players available for comment during the summer.
Q: What’s the most important thing to you during the summer? Is it teaching fundamentals, X’s and O’s, or something else?
A: It’s very simple. Get better. So if you want to call it fundamentals, team play, or whatever it is, it’s just about trying to get better every day. Each and every individual.
Q: Has there been any talk about last year at all, or how it ended, from a learning perspective? Or is that all in the past?
A: We don’t mention what happened last year. Like you said, this is a new year, so we don’t even talk about that.
Q: Is there anything you’re really optimistic about at this year’s camp compared to previous seasons?
A: This group is very close. They all have the same purpose of why they’re here. And in the past you may get 30 or 40 guys that may be here for the right reasons, and maybe five or six guys that are here just because they want to be called a member of the Lake Zurich football team. This group here really possesses a brotherhood of the Lake Zurich family.
Q: It seems like everyone here at camp is in great shape. Do you agree with that assessment?
A: (Chuckling) Well, that’s something we work on every day. They’re at the end of camp. That’s what they should be looking like. And now it’s up to them to maintain that for the next two-and-a-half weeks before the preseason begins. Hopefully they will. There’s always one or two guys who slip a little and just think it’s gonna come back. But this group seems pretty focused and tuned in.
Q: Have there been any changes in your coaching staff during the offseason?
A: Tony Wolanski is our new offensive coordinator now, and Steve Polley is our new offensive line coach. They’re both just good coaches, in my opinion, and that’s why I hired them. Both of them came from Conant last year. Tony was a defensive coordinator, and Steve was the offensive line coach over there.
Q: Is there anyone you feel has had a great summer camp?
A: Yeah, our coaching staff. They’ve had a great summer preparing the boys for the things that are to come in the fall.
Q: Some reports say you have as many as eight projected starters returning on defense. Who are some of your top returning players expected to be?
A: The players elected three guys as captains: (Linebacker) Ryan McGeever, (receiver and safety) Alex Miller and (linebacker) Jack Sanborn. McGeever and Sanborn also play H-back when we go to that specific set. We also expect our running back, Kyle Roth, to be back. We have one offensive lineman returning in Eric Brown. … (Running back) Jake Stevens, who started toward the end of last year for us due to injuries, is back.
Tim Froehlig is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
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Twitter @TFroehlig